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1.0 release from the trunk series released

Release information
Release notes:

This is the first full release of the language and compiler. It introduces backwards-incompatible changes to the built-in types and syntax to make the language more palatable, including operator syntax, a floating-point Num type (replacing the old Int type) and mandatory annotation of io functions. It also introduces a foreign function interface. The backend is now implemented using LLVM, and the compiler performs automatic destructive update where possible.

Changelog:

* Added an automatic destructive update system, which performs a sophisticated higher-order aliasing analysis, and transforms copy-and-update array operations into efficient in-place updates where possible to do so without changing the semantics of the program. (LP: #1338015)
* The compiler now internally uses LLVM to generate assembly code which is directly executed on the machine (rather than an interpreter), making execution hundreds of times faster. The marsc compiler can now be used to generate a native executable from a Mars program. (LP: #690006).
* Added a foreign-function interface, with the ability to call native code. (LP: #488588)
* Removed the Int type, and added Num (double-precision floating point numbers). (LP: #870515)
* Functions with I/O effects now require an explicit "io" annotation. (LP: #892922)
* Added infix arithmetic and comparison operators. (LP: #871246)
* Assignment statements and parameters can now perform pattern matching. (LP: #513633)
* Add an elif statement as syntactic sugar. (LP: #872685)
* for is now a reserved keyword (it is a syntax error to ever use it, as it may be used in a future version). (LP: #892948)
* Explicitly specified that the evaluation order of function arguments is unspecified. (LP: #897070)
* The built-in "is" function now has unspecified behaviour in many cases, allowing greater implementation freedom. (LP: #708469)
* Updated all functions to use Num instead of Int. (LP: #870515)
* To support the new foreign-function interface, added the modules "native" and "struct". (LP: #488588)
* To support the new "io" keyword, added the modules "iofuncs" and "debug". (LP: #912103)
* Added the module "set".
* Fixed pattern matching parsing for negative literals. (LP: #912145)
* The parser now exits properly if it cannot read a file. (LP: #894619)
* Fixed test framework crash if "?>" is split across read chunks. (LP: #1101674)
* Updated to build with modern versions of Mercury. Now requires Mercury 14.01 or greater. (LP: #894607, LP: #1332958)
* The official build now comes bundled with the Mercury library files, and a wrapper script to run with the correct library path. Previous versions were statically linked with the Mercury libraries, but that does not work with the new Mars LLVM runtime, which requires a dynamic version of libgc. (LP: #1338058)
* Calls to known type dictionaries are now optimized, avoiding a dynamic lookup. (LP: #720588)
* Optimised indirection when getting the "eq" or "show" closure. (LP: #1205796)
* Improved the tutorial. It now covers first-class functions and currying. (LP: #893471)
* Documentation: Wrote the section about values. (LP: #912041)

File Description Downloads
download icon mars_1.0.0_src.tgz (md5, sig) Source tarball (version 1.0) 118
last downloaded 18 weeks ago
download icon mars_1.0.0-1_amd64.deb (md5, sig) Debian binary package for amd64 (version 1.0) 437
last downloaded 7 days ago
Total downloads: 555

0.3.1 release from the trunk series released

Release information
Release notes:

Major changes to the Mars internal representation of compiled code, to facilitate much easier implementation of back-ends, as well as many bug fixes.

Changelog:

  * Case-bound variables now conform to SSA, preventing internal errors for
    some programs. (LP: #578068)
  * Fixed temporary names being reused within a single-case switch.
    (LP: #682536)
  * Fixed interactive mode not catching errors raised by evaluating CGCs.
    (LP: #697929)
  * Fixed interactive mode remembering the value of every temporary variable
    in the history of the session. (LP: #871725)
  * Fixed mars.exec_main_func; now puts the result in the localtable.
    (LP: #600467)
  * Internal software errors now go to stderr, not stdout. (LP: #690053)
  * When printing the environment, fixed internally representing constructor
    names with gvname, which they aren't supposed to be represented as.
    (LP: #700862)
  * Fixed the built-in show type (the variable `a` was not rigid).
    (LP: #708486)
  * The test framework now reports test cases that crash and those that don't
    end properly. (LP: #576385, LP: #690054)
  * Readline completion no longer shows internal (synthetic) functions.
    (LP: #702205)
  * The ":e" display no longer shows subscripted variables. (LP: #710450)
  * Fixed the ordering of blocks in the Mars IR code. It now reasonably well
    follows the order of the original source code. (LP: #412367)
  * The show and eq functions are now implemented non-primitively using type
    dictionaries. This means back-ends do not need to supply an implementation
    for these type-specific functions. (LP: #710495)
  * Changed the semantics of the field access instructions so they are much
    lower level. The code generator now generates field access functions in
    Mars IR to non-primitively perform the high-level actions. The
    instructions implemented by the back-end now perform very simple tasks.
    (LP: #690017)
  * There is now an instruction for directly calling a constructor, rather
    than having to load it into a local function first. (LP: #766796)
  * Major change to Mars IR: global variables are no longer accessible as
    variable names (only local variables). Rather, we provide special
    instructions to call and load the value of global variables. (LP: #699721)
  * Mars IR can no longer partially apply functions. Replaced this feature by
    introducing "closure templates" which are much easier to implement on
    low-level back-ends. The code generator must now generate a closure
    template for each partial application, which explicitly accepts a certain
    number of parameters in its closure. (LP: #744760)
  * Removed instructions for loading int literals and constructor symbols;
    instead, int literals and constructor symbols are considered to be "atoms"
    along with variable names, and atoms can now be referenced by most
    instructions that used to refer only to variable names. (LP: #440429)
  * Renamed the internal function ir.varname_to_string_noescape to simply
    ir.varname_string. (LP: #690456)
  * Documentation now builds with Sphinx 1.0.1. (LP: #780331)
  * Added high-level architecture documentation. (LP: #881836)

File Description Downloads
download icon mars_0.3.1-1_i386.deb (md5, sig) Debian binary package for i386 0.3.1 162
last downloaded 9 weeks ago
download icon mars_0.3.1_src.tgz (md5, sig) Source tarball 0.3.1 69
last downloaded 2 weeks ago
Total downloads: 231

0.3 release from the trunk series released

Release information
Release notes:

Upgraded type system, with local variable type inference and new scoping rules, switch exhaustion checks, working field reference and replace operations, and many fixed bugs.

Changelog:

  * Pattern bindings in case statements are now like any other assignment --
    scoped to the entire function and in the same namespace as all the other
    locals. Patterns no longer create a new scope, and the variables they
    create no longer shadow existing locals. It is now a type error if a local
    variable has the same name but different type as a pattern variable
    (backwards incompatible). (LP: #513638)
  * It is now a compiler error if a switch statement does not cover all
    possible constructors of the type it switches over, preventing the
    possibility of runtime pattern match failure errors (backwards
    incompatible). (LP: #408411)
  * Variables no longer require declaration. Any variable assigned in a
    function is now implicitly a local variable. It is no longer an error to
    assign to a global variable or an undefined variable (this just creates a
    new local variable). (LP: #483082)
  * The field reference and replace expressions and the field update statement
    now work (previously they displayed "not implemented" errors). It is now
    possible to access and update individual fields of an object by name,
    without having to use a switch. (LP: #439171)
  * The field replace statement is now an expression; its result is the
    updated object. It previously didn't make much sense because the statement
    performed an implicit assignment of its source variable. (LP: #408301)
  * The field update operator changed from "=" to "=!", reflecting its impure
    nature. (LP: #595782)
  * It is now an error to have two fields of the same name in a given
    constructor. (LP: #513585)
  * It is now an error to have two variables of the same name in a given
    pattern. (LP: #509939)
  * Reading the value of (and therefore executing the body of) a computable
    global constant now caches the result so subsequent reads do not
    re-execute the body. Previously CGCs would be re-executed on each read.
    (LP: #491697)
  * The built-in "is" function has been moved to the "impure" module.
    (LP: #582634)
  * The "is" function now works on objects of user-defined types (previously
    always returned 0). (LP: #585724)
  * Added prelude function "ref" which gets the element of a list with a
    particular index. (LP: #582635)
  * Paul Bone: Fixed error compiling Mars on some systems, due to Readline
    code. (LP: #552168)
  * Critical type safety problem -- if a declared local variable and pattern
    binding have different types, after the switch, the variable name has the
    declared type, but the value bound by the case (of the wrong type). Fixed
    by giving pattern bindings the full function scope, forcing them to have
    the same type as any declared variable. (LP: #513638)
  * Internal error "Phi missing predecessor in CFG" for programs with complex
    nested switches. (LP: #567082)
  * Internal error "Field reference to something not an ADT" for case
    statements with a nested pattern with two fields. (LP: #576375)
  * Type error for cases with int literals on polymorphic types. (LP: #509457)
  * Internal error for string literals with '\0. (LP: #534159)
  * Internal error calling "error" or "get_env" with '\0 in string.
    (LP: #534161)
  * Library function "encodeURIComponent" gives garbage output on strings with
    non-byte characters. (LP: #585703)
  * Now correctly sets the exit status of Mars to the result of main – rounds
    to a machine-size int with wraparound rather than using mod. (LP: #552413)
  * The "show" function now correctly includes empty parens for terms built
    from nullary constructors. (LP: #587787)
  * Replaced "dummy term binding" technique with explicit rigid type variables
    (as now described in documentation for type unification). (LP: #488595)
  * The control-flow graph (CFG) representation now includes full type
    information. (LP: #574108)
  * The t_switch instruction no longer includes fully-recursive patterns, but
    a limited format which matches only a single tag. Switch statements are
    now factored into this much lower-level construct which is easier to
    compile into machine code. (LP: #408411)
  * The interactive environment now uses SSA variable names, so variables
    which are re-assigned are no longer physically clobbered in the
    environment; they are assigned with a new qualified name. This makes the
    semantics of interactive consistent with the rest of the language and
    fixes issues with certain backends or analyses. (LP: #580487)
  * Fixed test suite silently treating invalid "outcome" values as "fail".
    (LP: #574141)
  * No longer generates code for statements which are inaccessible because
    they are preceded by a return statement. This prevents malformed code
    generation. (LP: #517403)
  * Fixed parser not allocating a type to subexpressions of expressions which
    already have a type annotation. (LP: #578082)
  * Interactive mode executes type-annotated versions of statements.
    (LP: #578084)
  * Test suite is now orders of magnitude faster to run (fixed re-compilation
    for every case, causing N^2 behaviour). (LP: #589000)
  * Interpreter interface is now abstracted so it is possible to plug in
    different interpreter backends. (LP: #550708)
  * In the test framework, expecting a compile error now causes all of the
    runtime tests to be expected to be skipped, so they don't raise large
    errors when they are. (LP: #596734)
  * Terminator instructions now hold a context object. (LP: #408291)
  * Function signatures no longer have an "argmode". This was part of some
    uniqueness information analysis which was abandoned for a different
    representation, and has since been unused and completely obsolete.
    (LP: #550739)
  * All library functions are now documented. (LP: #486958)
  * The documentation is now syntax-highlighted for all Mars code.
    (LP: #576776)
  * If a bug in Mars causes an internal error, it will be displayed much more
    neatly, with a link to the "file bug" page on the bug tracker.
    (LP: #534165)
  * The test framework no longer generates .py files with Mars assembly (a bug
    dating back to when we actually generated Python output). (LP: #521992)
  * The src directory now includes a Makefile, so Mars can be compiled with a
    simple make. (LP: #522477)
  * The Mars Vim script (misc/mars.vim) has an updated list of built-in names.
    (LP: #539368)

File Description Downloads
download icon mars_0.3.0_src.tgz (md5) Source tarball 0.3 87
last downloaded 10 days ago
download icon mars_0.3.0-1_i386.deb (md5) Debian binary package for i386 0.3 134
last downloaded 54 weeks ago
Total downloads: 221

0.2.1 release from the trunk series released

Release information
Release notes:

Fixes unbounded stack growth bug, allowing programs to run for arbitrary lengths of time. Adds readline support, lots of new library functions, and fixes many bugs.

Changelog:

* Fixed unbounded stack growth during interpretation. Programs can now run for arbitrary lengths of time.
* Interactive: Added readline support (proper command-line editing and completion). Mars now depends upon the GNU Readline library.
* Rather than searching the current directory for imports, searches the directory the initial module is located in. This makes multi-module programs possible, without having to run them from the current directory or add them to MARSPATH.
* Cyclic imports now work properly (previously failed if the top-level module was involved in an import cycle).
* Mars now allows source files with DOS/Windows newlines.
* New built-in functions: array_add, array_remove, __impure_array_delete (also added array_delete to 'impure' module).
* New prelude functions (based on the Haskell prelude): id, const, min, max, filter, foldl1, foldr1, minimum, maximum, index, elem, range, array_filter, array_foldl1, array_foldr1, array_elem, array_range.
* New prelude constants: false and true.
* No longer searches for the Prelude in the current directory.
* String literals now have type Array(Int), not Array(a) (minor bugfix).
* Interactive: Fixed interactively-assigned variables sometimes losing part of their type, causing them to be usable where they shouldn't, and also strange type errors.
* Interactive: Fixed exception associated with assigning an error expression to a variable, and then reading the variable's value.
* __impure_array_extend pre-grows the array to the full size, to avoid multiple regrows.
* Fixed syntax error messages with special or non-ASCII characters.
* Now fails correctly if given a directory name on the command line.

File Description Downloads
download icon mars_0.2.1_src.tgz (md5) Source tarball 0.2.1 23
last downloaded 54 weeks ago
download icon mars_0.2.1-1_i386.deb (md5) Debian binary package for i386 0.2.1 69
last downloaded 14 weeks ago
Total downloads: 92

0.2.0 release from the trunk series released

Release information
Release notes:

Removed (by renaming to obscure names) impure primitives, making Mars a mostly-pure language. Removed "python" backend. Major documentation updates.

Changelog:

mars (0.2.0-1) intrepid; urgency=low
  * Renamed impure primitives array_set, array_append and array_extend to
    __impure_array_set, etc; these are now deprecated. Added new module
    "impure" which provides the original names for these functions.
  * marsc - Removed "python" backend. Added "asm" backend.
  * Internal representation -- Now uses an instruction-based representation
    rather than statement/expression-based. This is visible in the "asm"
    backend output.
  * Documentation -- Finished "Introduction to Mars" section. Added more
    language features, and removed references to the language Venus.
  * Documentation -- Renamed "functions" to "procedures" when referring to a
    function as defined in source code, and renamed "parameter-less function"
    to "computable global constant".
  * Fixed testing framework (was broken on compilation testing).
  * Test cases -- More tests for runtime errors.
  * Fixed software exceptions on user array bounds errors (now displays proper
    Mars errors).
  * prelude -- Added constant "eof" with a value of -1.
  * Samples -- Added sample input to samples/bfs.mar.

 -- Matt Giuca <email address hidden> Sat, 03 Oct 2009 11:37:32 +1000

File Description Downloads
download icon mars_0.2.0-1_i386.deb (md5) Debian binary package for i386 0.2.0 17
last downloaded 2 days ago
download icon mars_0.2.0-1_src.tgz (md5) Source tarball 0.2.0 14
last downloaded 14 weeks ago
Total downloads: 31

0.1.0 release from the trunk series released

Release information
Release notes:

This is the first release of Mars, after about 9 months in development. This seems about on-par with usual human gestation, so I thought it was time for a public release.

This version is quite buggy and entirely subject to change.

File Description Downloads
download icon mars_0.1.0-1_src.tgz (md5) Source tarball 0.1.0 17
last downloaded 54 weeks ago
download icon mars_0.1.0-1_i386.deb (md5) Debian binary package for i386 0.1.0 26
last downloaded 54 weeks ago
Total downloads: 43